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Police probe gay Atlanta ‘top doc’ over 2 deaths

By Matt Hennie | Jul 26, 2013 | 12:25 PM

The clinic of butt doctor Nedra Dodds, who markets her cosmetic surgery and aesthetics services to gay and trans Atlantans, is under investigation by police over the deaths of two patients in her Chastain Road office.

During procedures at Opulence Aesthetic Medicine, one woman died in February and another in June, according to Cobb County police. WSB first reported the deaths and investigation on Thursday.

"We are investigating two deaths and it is an active and ongoing investigation," Officer Mike Bowman, a Cobb police spokesperson, told Project Q Atlanta on Friday.

WSB reported that at least one of the patients who died was undergoing a buttocks reduction procedure.

Channel 2’s Aaron Diamant dug up a police report from February, which said that April Jenkins, of Savannah, died after a fat-transfer procedure.

According to the police report, Jenkins fell onto the bed and made “odd moaning noises” after awaking from the surgery. She then went into full cardiac arrest, the report said. Police said doctors worked on Jenkins for 10 minutes and then called 911.

In June, police said firefighters arrived to the clinic to find Miami businesswoman Erica Beaubrun lying in a pool of blood after a buttocks reduction with silicone implants being removed.

Police said emergency medical technicians found she also went into cardiac arrest and noted that it had been 22 minutes before fire personnel were called.

Dodds did not speak to WSB on Thursday. Her office manager threatened to call police to have its reporter removed.

In past interviews with gay publications, Dodds has reached out to LGBT consumers with a touching story about her first interaction with an HIV-positive transgender person in the 1990s while she was working as an emergency room physician. Last September, she also discussed her gay-inclusive staff and practice with David magazine columnist Brent Star.

Yes…well I’ve always been PEOPLE friendly. I don’t see sexual preference, or color or gender, I just see people.

She also talked about the risks of getting your butt pumped.

Ok I have this friend who recently had…um…sorry, but lack of better way of saying it, his ‘butt pumped’. Is it risky to do that? Or to get your breasts enlarged?

Do your research on that doctor or facility first. There are definitely wrong ways to do it and potentially unsafe fluids pumped inside you. That’s why I like to educate you first so you know exactly what’s going on.

Earlier this year, Dodds was twice honored by gay glossy Fenuxe. First in January as she landed among the magazine's Fenuxe 50.

When the AIDS epidemic was so grossly misunderstood, Dr. Nedra Dodds refused to treat her patients like untouchables. Among the first specialists to forgo gloves when inspecting HIV-positive patients, the feedback from the community was incredible. “I felt human again,” was largely the sentiment. In this day and age, the new taboo in her profession is to treat misguided transfolk who have participated in “pumping parties,” in which silicone, a toxin, is injected by amateur cosmetic surgeons in hotel rooms. Because of the high risk associated with the attempt to remove it, many doctors turn the unwitting victims away. Not Dr. Dodd. She refuses to be bound by superstition and bravely attends to the wide and varied needs of the LGBT community. For that, we reward her our highest honor, the Fenuxe 50.

Dr. Nedra Dodds is a former model who founded Opulence Aesthetic Medicine and serves as its medical director. “We are an aesthetic practice that does everything from skincare to cosmetic surgery,” Dr. Dodds said. “The importance of our role in the gay community is to offer medical procedures, administered by medical professionals who are concerned about the overall outcome, and your treatment as a person with respect — and no judgement — as all people are entitled to.” Dr. Dodds is passionate about the performing arts. She is an annual ticket holder of the Atlanta Opera, Atlanta Ballet, Cobb Civic Center, and multiple performances at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Dr. Dodds is wellknown for seeing plays in their element on Broadway in New York, as well as attending Fashion Week.

In an August interview with Fenuxe, Dodds bragged that "I have an eye for a good ass."

“The key is looking at the body as a whole,” she said. “You have to look at bone structure, among other things. I’m not just focusing on the fact that you want your butt bigger. I always look at how athletes are built. On a guy like a baseball player or quarterback their gluteus maximus has a nice protrusion. It’s built up.”